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Hamas says it has no ties with extremist groups in Sinai

Xinhua, February 29, 2016 Adjust font size:

A senior leader of the Islamic Hamas Movement said on Monday that Hamas has no ties with extremist groups in Egypt's Sinai.

Musa Abu Marzooq, the deputy chief of the movement currently running the Gaza Strip, said Hamas is doing all it could to protect the borders between Gaza and Egypt.

Hamas "has not supported any group at the Palestinian borders and has not interfered in neighbor countries' affairs, especially Egypt," Abu Marzooq said in a statement.

The movement "would not allow any harm to Egypt's security and stability, particularly in Sinai," the statement added, adding that Hamas would suffer from any instability in the region.

"The movement was falsely accused of cooperating with extremists and terrorists in Sinai, while it was the first to confront extremism and the most threatened party of terrorism," the statement said.

Abu Marzooq said that his movement is keen on "resisting the occupation inside Palestine and has never gone beyond this policy, although it was attacked by Israel in more than one arena abroad."

He stressed the importance for the Islamic movement to maintain Egyptian and Arab security as a "basic principle" for being essentially tied to Palestine's security.

The statement by Abu Marzooq came amid local media reports that a high ranking delegation of both Hamas and Islamic Jihad movements is expected to meet with Egyptian officials in Cairo to discuss issues such as the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt.

Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah said earlier this week that he accepted an initiative by Palestinian factions to run the crossing under his government's supervision.

The Hamas-run government in Gaza controls the border crossing, the only exit for Palestinians between Gaza and the world, through Egypt.

Israel imposed a tight blockade on the Gaza Strip after Hamas violently seized control of the coastal enclave in the summer of 2007. Israel had eased the blockade in the past few years instead of lifting it. Endit